kclank

glad to hear you got yours. i ordered about the same time with a late feb. promise date. here is today's update. [&o]

Dear Ken
sorry for delay .
i will send the RTR to you at the middle of APR.
as we still have some parts not ok.
so sorry again.
will send email to you if i send it out

Shirley Shen
Tel: +86 571 88369006/89900218
Mobile phone: +86 18868783141
Fax: +86 571 89900218
Skype: sales_hooben
QQ: 827808952
MSN: [email protected]

Hooben Model Technology Co.,LTD
www.hooben.com

bigskydude

Finally got a chance to go over the T-55 a bit andhere's my humble opinion.It was packaged very well with the metal case in a fitted cardboard box.The metal carry case is awesome and much smaller then I figured it would be,then it made perfect sense when I found that the metal barrel is removable(just screws on)...awesome ideafor transporting it safely(hear that Tamiya/Heng Long??). Overall quality is good with details that aremuch better then Heng Long(more along the lines of Tamiya). the one semi-bigproblem I found is that the glue they used to put it together is cr#p! It is very brittle(like model cement) and parts pop off very easy(if they hadn't already) but they popped outat the joints cleanlyand were very easy to reglue with thick CA(problem solved). The other thing I noticed is that several nuts&bolts were missing but they are common metric sizes you can get at any decent hobby shop so that will be an easy fix. the suspensionis excellent if not a little on the stiff side(rides a bit high in the front)but thats a good problem as weall usually ad a ton of weight to these things(I plan on adding some stick-on wheel weights up front to level her out. In checking out the suspension I found a lot of sticking and squeeks and come to find nothing was lubed...so I had to pop off all the wheel/idler covers(thank god they used bad glue)and used light bearing oil on everything(once again problem solved lol). In working on it I did notice the nationality symbol(not sure yet which country it is)on one side is upside down..oh well. The tracks are plastic and seem prettygood(lighter then Heng Long)and It did come with some spare track links/w pins.It Seems odd that it has metal sprockets/idler/rubber tiresbut plastic tracks??......this thing SCREAMS formetal tracks!On another noteit didn't come with any kind of literature or parts list(again "oh well").As you can see from the pics(I placed a heng long speakerin it)showsthat space is somewhat limited(similar to a KV-1) but due to shallow depth of thetank body you will beVERY limited to adding much stuff other then the basics....I'm putting a Heng Long set-up in it so that will be no problem(no way I'm gonna fit a creeping death/w extra speakerin there(guess I'll save it for the Elefant). Due to the shape of the lower hull and suspension mounts it's impossible to mount anything up against the sides, but if you look close at the pics there are some molded mounts towards the front that are about 1/4" high that clear the suspension mounts...so what I intend to do issilicone some 2mm plasticard across the top of themthus giving me a nice flat surface towards the front to mount all my radio gear/battery, with my leadweights underneath in order to get the ride heightwhere it needs to be. Also make sure you Loc-tite the drive sprocket screws asI found the left side wasvery loose(they don't useany lock washers) and thatside will get loose everytime if you don't do something about it.The main gun recoil/elevation unit is only mounted securly on one side (gun barrel is mounted on both sides)and seems a bit wobbly but all seems in order, but once I screw the gun on that might help it a bit(we'll see). All in all I really like this modeland am glad I got it......now youguys need to understandthis wasa "floor model" and probably one of the first complete builds so no doubt it's gonna have its bugs, but if this is one of the first then Hoobenis already way ahead of the game compared to Heng Longwhen they were at the same point. I will be relaying this review to Hooben so hopefully they will address these issues. the kit itself seems to be a rather easy build for so much detail, and until they work out the bugs it would probably be better to build it up yourselfand do the right way the first time as opposed to havingto go back and "fix" things like I had to.in a nutshell the kit seems very good, but the assembly needs more quality control(ARTR versions).....just so you know I painted the roadwheels white/w red lugs(Hooben didn't).....

On One last note I need to make it clear...this was a "floor model"(and took 3 months to get it!)so I have NO IDEA as to the status of actual production(if any) so after all I have been through I highly reccomend that you hold of sending any money to Hooben till you see a few more of these cruising around...god knows how long I will have to wait for my sprocket cover and other misc parts. I personally know of two other guys that got them alreadyandboth of them got the "kit" versions back inJanuary/Februaryand they got them with the understanding that parts would be missing(and were), so as far as I know I am the ONLY guy with a complete(98%) in the free world....YEAH FOR ME!!! lol. After it's together I plane on doing a very light wash to it to give it some depth which should really bring out the detail(the color is a lot darker then it looks, its just the camera flash makes it look a bit odd)..I'll keep you guys posted as I make progress...(If anyone else gets their T-55 let us know!!!!)


Ok here we go(after all the begging lol)....check out the pics

The good: great detailing(better then Heng Long)
metal sprocket/idler and rubber road tires(now all we need is metal tracks!)
nice gear box(very similar to tamiya but looks to be a knock-off as mounts are just a little different)
stiff suspension springs(no need to upgrade these babys)
metal barrel(and it's removable....great touch!)
metal carry case(worth every penny!)

The bad: whatever glue they used is garbage, it's very brittle and parts pop off easily(this is an ARTR version)
missing nuts and bolts(not a lot and nothing you cant find at any decent hobby shop)
one decal is upside down(small one so its hard to notice)
1 sprocket cover missing
recoil/elevation unit seems a bit loose(checked that all screws were tight)...(could use supports on both sides but only has them on one side)
3 months to get it!!!

All in all I love this thing, but it is obvious Hooben is gonna have to get their quality control in order and use a better brand of glue on the ARTR versions..but it took heng long a bit to work the kinks outtheir systemso I don't think it will take Hooben long to get their house in order(once they get em into production).....

Soulfly3

look very nice, that will be my next tank. I like it.

how does it feel? liking the quality?

how abut a picture assembled pls.

ty!!

BiggTony

Yeah DH, where the photos???

Are you moderated or what? I suppose if you were,....you wouldn't be able to answer that, lol!

Do we need to start a petition for your release or what?lol

Soulfly3

hit the slide show button before u get in here so you can see them.

they are here

BiggTony

Learned something new today! lol
Had no idea about that button!

The tank looks great, do the manufacturers all follow the same blue print? Looks alot like a HL set up inside.

Anyway, Thanks!
Tony

bigskydude

yeah I was put on probation..lol....gotta watch what I say or I'll get kicked yet again(not that I really care but I know a ton of you-guyz were waiting for my review and I didn't want to let you all down.......you might need to start a petition for my release lol...I was a "bad boy" lol....


I posted a bunch of photos,if you can't read my review yet its because it's "pending approval" so it SHOULD be upin the next24hours...I'll post more as it comes together(if Im still allowed lol)....

bigskydude

Finally got a chance to go over the T-55 a bit and here's my humble opinion. It was packaged very well with the metal case in a fitted cardboard box.The metal carry case is awesome and much smaller then I figured it would be, then it made perfect sense when I found that the metal barrel is removable(just screws on)...awesome idea for transporting it safely(hear that Tamiya/Heng Long??). Overall quality is good with details that are much better then Heng Long(more along the lines of Tamiya). the one semi-big problem I found is that the glue they used to put it together is cr#p! It is very brittle(like model cement) and parts pop off very easy(if they hadn't already) but they popped out at the joints cleanly and were very easy to reglue with thick CA(problem solved). The other thing I noticed is that several nuts&bolts were missing but they are common metric sizes you can get at any decent hobby shop so that will be an easy fix. the suspension is excellent if not a little on the stiff side(rides a bit high in the front) but thats a good problem as we all usually ad a ton of weight to these things...I plan on adding some stick-on wheel weights up front(about 9 oz) to level her out. In checking out the suspension I found a lot of sticking and squeeks and come to find nothing was lubed...so I had to pop off all the wheel/idler covers(thank god they used bad glue)and used light bearing oil on everything(once again problem solved lol). In working on it I did notice the nationality symbol(not sure yet which country it is)on one side is upside down..oh well. The tracks are plastic and seem pretty good(lighter then Heng Long) and It did come with some spare track links/w pins.It Seems odd that it has metal sprockets/idler/rubber tires but plastic tracks??......this thing SCREAMS for metal tracks! On another note it didn't come with any kind of literature or parts list(again "oh well").As you can see from the pics (I placed a heng long speaker in it)shows that space is somewhat limited(similar to a KV-1) but due to shallow depth of the tank body you will be VERY limited to adding much stuff other then the basics....I'm putting a Heng Long set-up in it so that will be no problem(no way I'm gonna fit a creeping death/w extra speaker in there(guess I'll save it for the Elefant). Due to the shape of the lower hull and suspension mounts it's impossible to mount anything up against the sides, but if you look close at the pics there are some molded mounts towards the front that are about 1/4" high that clear the suspension mounts...so what I intend to do is silicone some 2mm plasticard across the top of them thus giving me a nice flat surface towards the front to mount all my radio gear/battery, with my lead weights underneath in order to get the ride height where it needs to be. Also make sure you Loc-tite the drive sprocket screws as I found the left side was very loose(they don't use any lock washers) and that side will get loose everytime if you don't do something about it. The main gun recoil/elevation unit is only mounted securly on one side (gun barrel is mounted on both sides)and seems a bit wobbly but all seems in order, but once I screw the gun on that might help it a bit(we'll see). All in all I really like this model and am glad I got it......now you guys need to understand this was a "floor model" and probably one of the first complete builds so no doubt it's gonna have its bugs, but if this is one of the first then Hooben is already way ahead of the game compared to Heng Long when they were at the same point. I will be relaying this review to Hooben so hopefully they will address these issues. the kit itself seems to be a rather easy build for so much detail, and until they work out the bugs it would probably be better to build it up yourself and do the right way the first time as opposed to having to go back and "fix" things like I had to. in a nutshell the kit seems very good, but the assembly needs more quality control(ARTR versions).....just so you know I painted the roadwheels white/w red lugs(Hooben didn't).....

On One last note I need to make it clear...this was a "floor model"(and took 3 months to get it!) so I have NO IDEA as to the status of actual production(if any) so after all I have been through I highly reccomend that you hold of sending any money to Hooben till you see a few more of these cruising around...god knows how long I will have to wait for my sprocket cover and other misc parts. I personally know of two other guys that got them already and both of them got the "kit" versions back in January/February and they got them with the understanding that parts would be missing(and were), so as far as I know I am the ONLY guy with a complete(98%) in the free world....YEAH FOR ME!!! lol. After it's together I plane on doing a very light wash to it to give it some depth which should really bring out the detail(the color is a lot darker then it looks, its just the camera flash makes it look a bit odd)..I'll keep you guys posted as I make progress...(If anyone else gets their T-55 let us know!!!!)


Ok here we go(after all the begging lol)....check out the pics

The good: great detailing(better then Heng Long)
metal sprocket/idler and rubber road tires(now all we need is metal tracks!)
nice gear box(very similar to tamiya but looks to be a knock-off as mounts are just a little different)
stiff suspension springs(no need to upgrade these babys)
metal barrel(and it's removable....great touch!)
metal carry case(worth every penny!)

The bad: whatever glue they used is garbage, it's very brittle and parts pop off easily(this is an ARTR version)
missing nuts and bolts(not a lot and nothing you cant find at any decent hobby shop)
one decal is upside down(small one so its hard to notice)
1 sprocket cover missing
recoil/elevation unit seems a bit loose(checked that all screws were tight) ...(could use supports on both sides but only has them on one side)
3 months to get it!!!

All in all I love this thing, but it is obvious Hooben is gonna have to get their quality control in order and use a better brand of glue on the ARTR versions..but it took heng long a bit to work the kinks out their system so I don't think it will take Hooben long to get their house in order(once they get em into production).....

Me-109 Jagdflieger

IT DOES EXIST! lol Glad to finaly see some pics of this beast, overall it looks good, if they fix thier problems and start churning these out they will sell alot.

Jonathan

jededitor

Now I am jealous and wondering when mine will turn up...

BiggTony

Very in depth review BigSky! Thanks for that and I hope Hooben gets around to providing a more reliable service and product. Love the avatar! LMAO!

cmpang

Momiji said I should get mine in the first week of April, I can't wait anymore......... 

thebronze

Kool....White walls
J/K.........looks great

herrmill

Regarding metal tracks, I introduced Feng to IMPACT after seeing his prototype 9/08. Not sure why they couldn't work out any arrangements between them or why Feng didn't tool up metal tracks himself.

Perhaps someone in the after market world will proceed with parts now that its finally becoming reality.

bigskydude

yeah I talked to kenny Kong and he said he didnt have any plans to produce any either...seems like kenny isn't into making tracks as much as other interest anymore......I thought I saw somebody selling T-55 tracks in 1/16 but they wanted like $500 euros or some rediculous price...

bigskydude

I saw a website somewhere that was offering T-55 metal tracks, but they wanted a ton for them. If anyone knows the site, let me know as maybe now that a few T-55's are leaking out they might be "persuaded" to make some more sets and drop the price to a realistic level....I'll give it a shot! I just need help finding the website again...

Plastic scouser

AFV in Germany do the metal tracks http://www.afv-model.com/4711shop/in...T-34-T-55.html like you say pricey tho

Cheers Ian

bigskydude

awesome...(thanks Scouser). I just emailed the guy to see if they are even available and if so maybe he could do something on the price ($409 is a bit excessive, I would think $150-200 at most)....we'll see. It looks like he offers sprockets and idlers as well...I hope those aren't needed since the Hooben comes with metal ones already and can't be sure if they would even be a "bolt-on" set-up for the Hooben[sm=72_72.gif]. Hopefully he'll give me a deal on a set of tracks and we can find out...I'll keep yall posted...

rivetcounter

I really don’t wish to be the bearer of bad news but the price is €409.32 Euros that’s roughly $546.56 plus postage the price will be based on less than 12 orders of tracks if the order was for say 100 plus sets then the price would come down, at worst the tracks may not mesh with Hooben sprockets so you may have to buy the sprockets but the idlers wont matter

bigskydude

If that be the case he's crazy! I'm not even sure why he even made tracks for a tank that wasn't even out yet? I can buy two more tanks for 500 Euros...lol. he will never sell any for that price..I'd just as soon wait just till a cheaper version is available.... but I did email him, so lets give the guy a chance and see what happens...

Panther F

Hopefully it's just 'First Model Jitters' and the next tanks come out a little smoother.

I seriously want 2 Elefant tanks, and that's all I need.


- Jeff

jededitor

Who is it that makes the elefant tracks & roadwheels? I have a set of the roadwheels for my VK4501(P) but I cannot remember where I got them from and I'll need a set each for the Elefant & Bergepanzer (P).

Pershing.Driver

awsome ... love the case and removable barrel .. hope they are standard would make traveling by Air much easier hope they are standard with the tank. Does anyone know if the kit versios come with them or is it optional?

uhu

Hi Jededitor

Asiatam in Germany sells them:

http://www.asiatam.de/index.php?cat=...fqore1e0a7g9j4

Regards

bigskydude

no the case is an extra $60...but worth every penny!...when I get my Elefant I'm ordering a case with it as well......